UK charities join forces on hunt for ESG managers
Three UK based charities are joining forces in the hunt for a manager to oversee a £32 million ($41.6 million) portfolio with a strong focus on environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria as well as impact investing  

BlueBay adds senior portfolio manager as it targets EM fund launches
BlueBay Asset Management has hired for a newly created senior portfolio manager job 

ICG hires two for new mid market strategy after raising €1 billion
Intermediate Capital Group has made senior hires to help source deals and invest through a €1 billion middle market fund launched last year

Park Square promotes four after departure of direct lending head
Park Square has announced four promotions to partner, which comes a couple of months after its head of direct lending Howard Sharp parted ways with the firm, as previously reported by Debtwire

Ares makes rare move by pulling out of private debt mandate
Greater London’s local government pension pool has lost one of its credit managers after Ares Management withdrew from its role as fund manager on an illiquid loan and private debt mandate  

Apollo fills gap in European direct lending team with senior hire from Alcentra
Apollo Global Management has filled a void in its European direct lending team by hiring Alcentra’s Natalia Tsitoura, according to market sources

Golub makes its way into Europe with big direct lending hire in London
Golub Capital has ticked off one of its big targets for 2020 – establishing a European direct lending business – with market sources indicating that the firm has hired a senior official from Guggenheim in London

BNP Paribas AM hits €345 million on first close of European SME debt fund
BNP Paribas Asset Management has attracted €345 million from 13 investors for its second European debt fund focused on small and medium-sized enterprises, marking the fund’s first close

Värde launches $2.5 billion global credit fund
Värde Partners has raised $2.47 billion for a new global credit fund, according to an announcement today

European Direct Lending Perspectives: fundraising records shatter
Fundraising in European direct lending hit €32.2 billion in September to mark a record-breaking year for the industry, according to the latest version of European Direct Lending Perspectives

Private debt tops the private markets agenda for insurers, finds Schroders
Insurers currently allocate the largest proportion of their private assets’ portfolio to private debt, followed by real estate, according to study published by asset manager Schroders  

NNIP hires head of alternative credit as it shakes up private markets platform
The hire will be responsible for overseeing NNIP’s €40 billion alternative credit platform – including its corporate debt, residential mortgages, commercial real estate lending, eca/government loans and infrastructure debt/project finance strategies

Ex-CQS portfolio manager resurfaces at Axa IM
A former European leveraged loan portfolio manager who left CQS in July 2018 has resurfaced at Axa Investment Management

CDP commits to Italian private debt
Italian state-owned investor Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has committed €40 million to a private debt fund managed by Anthilia Capital Partners

Direct lenders seek flexibility as leverage facilities disperse
European direct lending funds are frequently taking on leverage, and with some of these facilities topping €1 billion, leverage providers are looking to syndicate their exposures among other banks.

JP Morgan AM moves CFO to head up private credit
The chief financial officer of JP Morgan Asset Management has switched to a newly created role as head of private credit

Private debt secondaries expected to soar in 2020
Private debt secondaries grew massively in 2019 — and more is expected this year.

Managers acquiesce on fees as small UK pensions seek private credit nest egg
Private credit fund managers are rejigging their fee structures in order to attract small UK pension schemes.

Devon pension backs Brunel private debt portfolio
Devon pension fund’s committee has approved a £100 million ($131 million) commitment to Brunel private debt portfolio, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Ucits at a glance: Ucits continue to chart a steady course

Muzinich targets €500 million after first close of senior secured fund
Muzinich has collected €104 million for a first close of its Muzinich European Senior Secured Fund

Texas pension awards €100 million to European direct lending
Texas County and District Retirement System has allocated €100 million to a European direct lending fund managed by Metric Capital Partners

Pennsylvania pension creates private credit bucket
Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System has approved a new 4% allocation to the private credit asset class

Ucits at a glance: ucits continue to chart a steady course

Beware of "mequity" risk in direct lending, writes Barings
Barings co-head of global private finance, Ian Fowler, predicts that the adoption of lending terms associated with broadly syndicated loans into private credit will not prove beneficial in the long term